


Choices Not Made

by fanboytrippin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fix-It, Let us all not forget that Qrow is the best uncle, M/M, V7C12 rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:48:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22658821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanboytrippin/pseuds/fanboytrippin
Summary: It’s a dirty move and he’s not proud of it. He and Clover had been dancing around each other for weeks, all awkward flirting and shy smiles. Hell, if things hadn’t turned out the way they did, maybe they actually would have ended up going out for (nonalcoholic) drinks sometime. But when it comes down to it, Clover was not only standing between him and protecting the people of Mantle, but him and protecting his nieces. This wasn’t even a choice.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 12 rewrite? Sure why not. 100% less stabby guaranteed.

Qrow Branwen wouldn’t be the first huntsman with a complicated past. Some take up arms for fame and fortune, others because they want to be heroes, but not Qrow.

Qrow and his sister came to Beacon to learn to kill other huntsmen and huntresses.

It’s not a part of his history that he’s proud of and definitely not something he likes to talk about, but this motivation was the basis of many of the skills that made him the skilled fighter he is today. And just because he’s usually fighting Grimm, doesn’t mean he’s forgotten how to take a man down.

The warrant for his arrest comes quickly after Ruby’s frantic call cuts short. 

“Qrow,” Clover says standing and walking towards him, “You should know, I’ve been asked to bring you in.” He looks regretful, “There’s also an alert out for team RWBY’s arrest.”

_ What? _

Qrow’s mind goes blank, but just for a moment. 

Has James lost his mind?

No. No time to think about that, not with the immediate problem at hand. Not with Clover approaching him, no doubt already reaching for his restraints. Qrow sees Robyn stand from beside him, looking tense. If he’s lucky, he’ll have seconds before a fight breaks out, and as everyone knows, Qrow is not lucky.

But he is smart.

A big part of fighting another person is getting into their heads. It stings that Clover doesn’t even hesitate in carrying out his orders to arrest him. From the mournful look on the Ace Ops Captain’s face, it looks like he’s conflicted having to arrest a friend, but not enough for him to defy his general. Conflicted is good. He can use that.

“So this is how it ends,” Qrow says sadly, standing, hands in front of him, wrists turned up and ready to be cuffed, Harbinger clanking dully, abandoned on the bench behind him.

Robyn looks surprised. “Wait, you’re just going to surrender? Just let Ironwood do whatever he wants and abandon Mantle?”

Qrow looks her dead in the eye. “The warrant’s out for my arrest, not yours. Stay quiet and when we land, go help your kingdom.” He turns to face Clover. “Start a fight and Jimmy’s entire robot army will be after you and you’ll get to help no one.”

Robyn is silent next to him, but she knows it’s the right play. She gives him a grudging, but approving nod as she retakes her seat.

Tyrian gives a disappointed huff. “Boring,” he singsongs, “Not nearly the show I thought it’d be.”

Clover approaches him, cuffs at the ready. “I’m sorry about this Qrow.”   
  


He sighs as he raises his wrists. “You do what you gotta do.” He cracks a smirk. “You think arresting me for a second time kills my chances for asking you out for a drink when this is all over?”

Clover stops, blinks at him eyes wide. Qrow gives him a lopsided smirk. “But hey, maybe it’s a turn on for you to see me all tied up.”

It’s crass, it’s rude, but it works. Clover chokes on air, face turning red as he fumbles with the restraints, and it’s just the opening Qrow needs as he steps forward and punches him swiftly in the gut, followed by a chop to the back of the neck as the captain doubles over. And just like that, his friend turned foe is down for the count.

It’s a dirty move and he’s not proud of it. He and Clover had been dancing around each other for weeks, all awkward flirting and shy smiles. Hell, if things hadn’t turned out the way they did, maybe they would have actually ended up going out for (nonalcoholic) drinks sometime. But when it comes down to it, Clover was not only standing between him and protecting the people of Mantle, but him and protecting  _ his nieces _ . This wasn’t even a choice.

As Clove drops to the ground, Qrow picks up the cuffs and binds his hands behind his back with his own restraints. Robyn looks at him, expression unreadable, while Tyrian lets out another disappointed grunt.

“What?” Qrow says, picking up his weapon and pointing it at the pilot, ordering him to land.

“So what was all that about staying quiet and not having an entire robot army after us?”

“A delicately and well-crafted lie to keep you calm  _ until we were ready _ to have an entire robot army after us.”

Robyn lets out a snort, but nods in approval.

And then, the door to the manta is open, and they’re gone, just like any chance of anything between him and Clover.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exposition, aka how I think that thing with Salem is going to go down in volume 8. Plus a little bit of sappiness.

The next time they meet, ironically, Clover is in jail.

He’s only heard snippets of how the defeat of Salem went down. It seems that, by the grace of the gods, the Savior of Mantle was able to turn the witch away, by transforming the floating city of Atlas into a beacon of silver light. Wherever the light touched, Grimm would vaporize or turn to stone, sending the invading monsters running, with the giant behemoth of a whale Salem rode in on being no exception.

Clover guessed the “Savior” was either Penny or Ruby, but he couldn’t be sure. After the danger was over, an order for the arrest of Ironwood and his inner circle - minus the new Winter Maiden of course - was issued throughout the kingdom for the intended betrayal of Mantle. Clover had only just woken up from when Qrow had knocked him out before he was taken and confined to a prison somewhere in the lower depths of Atlas.

It’d been seven days since he’d fallen from Captain of the Ace Ops to Traitor to the Kingdom. But did he deserve it? Following the orders of a man who was willing to leave thousands of citizens to die? He’d like to think it was for the greater good, but how many sacrifices need to be made before good starts looking like evil?

Clover ruminates on this for a while. Deep in thought, he didn’t even notice as a shadow appeared outside his cell door.

“Thinking hard there, golden boy?” comes a rough, familiar voice.

_ Qrow. _

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Clover says, getting to his feet.

“Heard you’ve been asking for me.” Qrow replies, shifting uncomfortably and not meeting his eyes.

“Yeah, I just wanted to see if you were alright.”

“Me?” Qrow asks, incredulously. “I’ve been fine. Helped saved the kingdom and all that, if you haven’t heard. Councilwoman Hill’s thinking about throwing us a ball, giving us a key to the city and all that.” He says the word ‘Councilwoman’ while making air quotes. For a hardened hunter, the other man sure could be adorable.

“A just reward for our fearless heroes,” Clover nods sagely. “Definitely not because Robyn knows you hate fancy gatherings. Wouldn’t know where she’d even have gotten that idea. You looked so at home at Jacque Schnee’s victory party.”

Qrow rolls his eyes, though some of the tension loosens from his shoulders, before going serious.

“How have you really been, Clover?”

Maybe it was the isolation of the past week or the sincere concern in Qrow’s voice but Clover breaks, smile turning sad. “It’s be a lie to say everything’s been sunshine and rainbows.” He begins to pace around the confines of his cell. “The guards won’t tell me anything. They kind of just shake their heads at me in disgust. I haven’t been able to get any word about the rest of my team or the general, if they’re dead or alive.” He looks at Qrow hopefully. “Got any news for a desperate man?”

Qrow sighs and leans back on the wall behind him. “Your team’s fine, except maybe for their egos.” He smirks, “Got their asses kicked real good by my girls.” His smile turns sad again. “The general, though. He’s not doing so well. He’s uninjured sure, but it’s like something in James broke.”

Qrow gets up and walks closer to Clover. “The public is branding him a madman and you all as his accomplices. Robyn kind of spilled the beans on you guys trying to turn the city into a great big getaway car in the sky.”

Clover nodded. “I figured as much, being behind bars and all.”

“On the bright side, unrest in the kingdom seems to be going down, what with the new leadership and the fact that Atlas is now a giant Grimm killing night light.”

“You’re going to have to tell me the story of how that happened by the way.”

Qrow shrugs. “Ruby and Penny didn’t want to run away with the relic and have the city fall out of the sky. But they also didn’t want Salem to get her hands on it.” He pauses. “You know that the staff can shoot out any kind of energy you want? Lightning, fire, laser beams, it can do it all, as much as you want for as long as you want,” He shrugs again. “Turns out it can even do silver eye energy and that the Atlas systems aren’t really picky about what they use for a battery.”

Clover nods. “They were designed for flexibility since magic isn’t really something scientifically quantifiable.”

Qrow’s face scrunches in confusion. “Yeah well, I’m not really sure how it all works but apparently my niece and her friends took Oz’s old glow stick, changed its settings, cranked the juice, and lit the city up like a shiny new light bulb.”

Clover nods again. “The Atlas power grid has emergency releases for power surges. They must have used that to let loose the excess energy and make the city shine. Again, all part of the system’s design.”

“Sure, why not,” Qrow says, still looking skeptical. “Anyway, after that, the Grimm scattered, Salem retreated, we won. Seems she hates silver eye magic just as much as her monsters.”

“And then I got arrested.” Clover finishes.

Qrow sighs sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He rubs the back of his neck, face going a bit red. “And, uh, sorry about the other thing.”

“What thing? The trying to seduce me, then sucker punching me in the gut thing?” Clover asks, faking innocence. “Gotta admit I’ve never quite had a guy sweep me off my feet like that before.” He pauses for a beat. “Literally. Your punch lifted me off the ground. I remembered that much just before you karate chopped my neck, which  _ Owwwww _ by the way.”

Qrow’s face twists, trying not to smile, but failing miserably. “You sort of had it coming though.”

Clover nods. “I sort of did.” He goes serious. “I thought James had a plan. Didn’t matter that arresting you was part of it.” He frowns. “But I guess there was another way and that you and your girls found it.”

A silence passes between them.

“I’m trying to get you out of here,” Qrow says. “You were following orders, but they were coming from James and he should take the fall.”

“That’s not an excuse, I should have made better choices, defied orders.”

“It shouldn’t have been a choice to make at all.”

Another pause, before Qrow continues.

“They’re going to strip you of your position.”

Clover sighs. “I figured as much. Can’t have a traitor to the public working in any official capacity.”

“We’re,” Qrow pauses and runs a hand down his face. “Ruby and the gang, all of us are going to leave Atlas soon. Head to Vacuo to track down the Summer Maiden.”

More silence, heavier this time.

“I see,” Clover says sharply. “Guess we won’t be getting that drink, huh?”

“You could come with?”

Clover blinks. “Qrow, in case you didn’t realize, I’m a little bit tied up at the moment,” he says, gesturing around him.

“Not admitting to anything, but I was raised by bandits and would like to say I know my way around a jailbreak.” He grins mischievously. “And I think Robyn could be convinced to turn a blind eye to one missing prisoner.”

Clover smiles but shakes his head. “I can’t leave behind the others. The Ace Ops or the General.”

“James made his bed, and he’s going to have to sleep in it. As for the Ops, we can break them out too.”

Clover sighs. “I can’t, Qrow. I won’t. I need to face up to my crimes, make things right.”

“Awfully noble of you, golden boy,” Qrow huffs.

“Got to set a good example for all the kids after all.”

Qrow looks at him sadly, then slowly reaches a hand through the bars, touches the sides of Clover’s face. They share a long look, just staring into each others eyes, before the hunter pulls away.

“Guess you’ve made up your mind then, huh?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“We’ll see each other again,” Qrow says, resolute.

“Of course we will,” Clover winks, “But hey, until we do…” His hand reaches out, grabbing Qrow by the front of his shirt and pulling him up against the bars. Soft lips are suddenly on his, a brief touch, gone before he could fully process that they were there.

“For good luck,” the captain says quietly, suddenly sheepish, face glowing a soft red. Qrow snorts, smiling fondly.

“You’re such a sap,” he says before darting forward, another press of mouths, a gentle kiss. “But yeah, you know me. I’ll take all the luck I can get.”

And then he’s gone, leaving Clover alone, hands reaching up to touch his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> I really do ship fair game, but honestly there's no way that Qrow wouldn't gank his love interest to go save his nieces. Not that he kills him here!
> 
> Anyway, I do like stories where romantic love isn't the end all to be all and at his core, I do think Qrow is a family man/best uncle. Sorry Clover.
> 
> I have a plan for pt 2, post whale, but who knows when I'll get to writing that lol. Theme of this chapter is Gravity by Against the Current. I think it fits but honestly it's mostly just a jam.


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